Yona Verwer

Pursuing the ultimately unknowable and for some, the controversial, Verwer combines abstract and representational painting to create a strong visible connection with the forbidding and spiritual nature of the subject matter.

New York artist Yona Verwer will be showing new work with a markedly mystical motif in a solo exhibition opening June 5th, 2002.

Verwer's latest paintings are based on the Urim and Tumim, the essence of the "breastplate of judgment." During time of war, this breastplate was worn and consulted by the High Priest of Israel. It was mounted with twelve precious stones, upon which were engraved the names of the Twelve Tribes. The individual letters would illuminate to display prophetic messages, hence the "judgment."

Pursuing the ultimately unknowable and for some, the controversial, Verwer combines abstract and representational painting to create a strong visible connection with the forbidding and spiritual nature of the subject matter.

With thick, yet refined reflective and glossy layers, the paintings reveal enlarged, interior details of the breastplate's gems, with the eye drawn to the facets' inner light. Contemplating these paintings, as highly polished as the gemstones themselves, the viewer is struck by the tactile and the brooding nature of this mysterious theme.

Yona Verwer was born in The Netherlands and received her Masters in Fine Arts from the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague, and is a former artist-in-residence at The Studio Program at PS 122, NYC. Ms. Verwer has shown in numerous galleries in New York and in Europe; featured in 3 solo shows in The Netherlands, her work has also appeared in American exhibitions and venues including The Bronx Museum, NY, The Center for Jewish History in New York, The Allentown Art Museum, PA, and The Port of History Museum in Philadelphia.

This exhibition is made possible with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and The Dynamo Development Company. Russian American Cultural Center 55 John Street 14 Floor NYC 10038 (train to Fulton street)